Today we spent the day at Blue Spring State Park. I had arranged for our nature club to take a one hour eco-boat tour (perfect length of time for the kids). After that, we had a picnic, took the short nature walk, and went swimming in the spring. We had a great day there!

Blue Spring State Park is located at 2100 W. French Ave., in Orange City. During the winter months it is a refuge area for manatees, as they huddle into the spring for its constant 72 degree temperature. In the summer swimmers and divers take to the spring. It's a beautiful state park! It offers camping, kayaking, boat tours, picnicing, swimming, and more. They also have a camp store there, where they rent tubes for using in the spring.

Much of Blue Spring State Park is boardwalk access, which makes it accessible for wheelchairs and strollers. There are plenty of picnic tables, bathrooms, nature walks (a 10 minute boardwalk one, and a 4 mile one) and there is a house/museum that can be toured for free. There is a park entrance fee, which at this time is $6 per vehicle.

There were actually two manatees in the swimming area today. The large one came out and swam where swimmers were, then headed off to the river. That was quite exciting for everyone!